The flaming junk, which first appeared around 6:00 p.m. local time, was visible across parts of Nevada and California. Dazzled stargazers throughout the region took to social media to share their accounts of the unexpected show.

There are more than 21,000 pieces of space debris larger than 4 inches across currently orbiting Earth. As part of its Space-Track.org initiative, the USSC maintains a comprehensive database of 16,000 of these "on-orbit cataloged objects," tracking their movement until they burn up.

Last night (Aug. 12/13), the Perseid meteor shower peaked, putting on a show for planet Earth. While passing through the trail of Comet Swift-Tuttle, our atmosphere was pummeled by the dusty debris, producing some spectacular meteors and even fireballs. Here are a few international views of this spectacular annual event.

In the run-up to last night's peak, in the skies over Joshua Tree National Park, near Los Angeles, Calif., photographer and Discovery News reader Sean Parker captured several meteors over a 60 minute timelapse, composed of 180 photos. Looking north, the startrails form a circle with the occasional meteor cutting through. You can check out more of Parker's timelapse and astro-photography

The skies over California weren't all as peaceful as Joshua Tree, however. In this long-exposure photograph from the town of Clearlake, which is located north of San Francisco, photographer Stuart Palley captured this dramatic view of a Perseid meteor flash across the sky over the Jerusalem Fire which has burned tens of thousands of acres of land in Lake and Napa Counties. California is currently undergoing a historic drought, creating the perfect conditions for wildfires across the state.

Clear skies in Bulgaria aided not only the viewing of the Perseids, but also an object of man-made origin. This streak is neither a meteor or aircraft, that's the International Space Station making a bright pass over the Bulgarian capital Sofia.

A bright fireball shines blue in the Pilsum, Germany, skies. Fireballs are larger meteors that can be seen to erupt as they speed through the atmosphere. Sometimes, depending on their size and speed, a fireball "bang" can be heard on the ground.